Lemon plant named ‘BENEDICTO’

ABSTRACT

‘BENEDICTO’ is an early, seedless, thin-skinned lemon. The tree is thornless on stems and shoots, with large leaves and short internodes, vigorous and high yield efficiency.

Latin name of the genus and species of the plant claimed: Citrus limon(L.) Burm. f.

Variety denomination: Lemon plant ‘BENEDICTO’.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The new and distinct lemon cultivar of the present invention wasdiscovered while growing in a country state of the Alicante region ofSpain called “La Alcoraya” while present among standard ‘Fino 95’ lemontrees (non-patented). A single plant of the new cultivar was found in2012, was carefully preserved and subsequently asexually reproduced bygrafting on different standard rootstocks (non-patented) until it wasfound that the best rootstock was the C. macrophylla. Once known that,the variety was propagated in other country state of the Alicante regioncalled “Lo Monte” in order to confirm that the variety is distinct,uniform and stable.

The new invention called ‘BENEDICTO’ is seedless in the main harvest,contains more juice than existing varieties, is significantly thinnerpeel, can harvest earlier than existing varieties, is thornless on stemsand shoots, has large leaves and short internodes, is vigorous and highyielding efficiency, and produces regular bearing.

The ‘Fino 95’ and ‘Fino 49’ varieties are grown on “Lo Monte,” so thecomparative studies have been carried out under homogeneous growing andclimatic conditions, and the characteristics described have been foundto be attributable to the genotype.

Had the new cultivar of the present invention not been discovered andpreserved it would have been lost to mankind. This new cultivar isbelieved to be a spontaneous mutation of the ‘Fino 95’ lemon tree ofunknown causation.

It was found that the new lemon cultivar of the present invention formsattractive fruit which when compared to the ‘Lemon 95’ (non-patented) or“Lemon 48” (non-patented) cultivars displays an earlier season ofmaturity.

The new cultivar has been asexually reproduced in the Alicante region ofSpain by grafting on C. macrophylla rootstock. The combination of thecharacteristics, including the early maturity fruit, has been shown tobe stable and is reliably transmitted to succeeding generationsfollowing such asexual reproduction. Accordingly, the new cultivarreproduces in a true-to-type manner by such asexual reproduction.

The new cultivar can be readily distinguished from ‘Lemon 95’ becauseits seedless (while in the ‘Fino 95’ and ‘Fino 49’ varieties thepresence of seeds affects between 12-82% of the fruit, reaching averagevalues of 6.06 seeds per fruit in ‘Fino 49’) and thornless on stems andshoots, the leaves are larger, it produces up to 7.92% more juice andthe peel is significantly thinner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Noticeable characteristics of the inventive variety ‘BENEDICTO’ are asfollows:

-   -   (1) ‘BENEDICTO’ is seedless in the main harvest and has a        significantly thinner peel than existing varieties.    -   (2) ‘BENEDICTO’ has significantly more juice than existing        varieties.    -   (3) ‘BENEDICTO’ has thornless stems and shoots, and therefore it        can be easily harvested manually without the use of a harvesting        device.    -   (4) ‘BENEDICTO’ has large leaves and short internodes than        existing varieties, and therefore it is less susceptible to        growth inhibition than the existing varieties.    -   (5) ‘BENEDICTO’ is vigorous and high yield efficiency.    -   (6) ‘BENEDICTO’ produces regular bearing year after year.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a photograph showing a front view of a leaf of ‘BENEDICTO.’

FIG. 2 is a photograph of a small piece of branch showing the leaves andthe fruit emerging.

FIG. 3 is a photograph showing a top view of a flower of ‘BENEDICTO.’

FIG. 4 is a photograph showing the overall relatively dense andspreading growth habit of a typical specimen of the new cultivar thatwas grafted with this new variety in April 2015 and observation obtainedduring the growing season of 2021.

FIG. 5 is a photograph showing a closer view of the foliage and theabundant formation of immature fruit that is in process of ripeningwhile present on a typical specimen of the new cultivar that was graftedwith this new variety in April 2015 and observation obtained during thegrowing season of 2021. The same or a comparable tree to that of FIG. 4is being depicted.

FIG. 6 is a photograph showing the fruit body of ‘BENEDICTO.’

FIG. 7 is a photograph showing a cross-section attractive typicalspecimens of the mature fruit of ‘BENEDICTO’ at the time of harvest(typically during October).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The described plants of the new cultivar had been asexually reproducedby grafting on Citrus macrophylla rootstock (non-patented) outdoors infull sunlight in the Alicante region of Spain. The new cultivar wasgrafted with this new variety in April 2015 and observations obtainedduring the growing season of 2021 are presented.

-   Classification: Citrus lemon (L.) Burm. f.-   Breeding scheme: Spontaneous mutation of the ‘Fino 95’ lemon tree.-   Method of propagation of the variety: Vegetatively propagated by    grafting on rootstock.-   Characteristics of the variety:    -   -   Young leaf.—Presence of anthocyanin coloration: Present.        -   Young leaf.—Intensity of anthocyanin coloration: Medium.        -   Fruit length.—87.25±6.99 mm.        -   Fruit diameter.—67.68±3.92 mm.        -   Fruit.—Presence of neck: Absent.        -   Fruit.—Presence of nipple: Present.        -   Fruit surface.—Predominant color: Medium yellow, Group 150C,            obtained from UPOV revision of document tgp/14: section 2:            botanical terms: subsection 3: color: annex: Color names for            The R.H.S. Color Chart. Fifty-Fourth Session Geneva, Oct. 29            and 30, 2018.        -   Fruit.—Main color of flesh: Light yellow, Group 8C, obtained            from UPOV revision of document tgp/14: section 2: botanical            terms: subsection 3: color: annex: Color names for The            R.H.S. Color Chart. Fifty-Fourth Session Geneva, Oct. 29 and            30, 2018.        -   Parthenocarpy.—Present.        -   Seedless.—        -   Juiciness.—High.        -   The growth habit of the claimed plant.—Upright.        -   The position of the broadest part of the fruit.—At middle.        -   The presence of depression at the stalk end.—Absent.        -   The thickness of the fruit rind.—Medium.        -   The oiliness of the fruit rind.—Medium.        -   The glossiness of the fruit surface.—Medium.        -   The polyembryony of the seed.—Seedless.        -   The flowering habit of the plant.—Flowering more than once.        -   The time of maturity of fruit for consumption.—Early/medium.

The table below shows the physicochemical characteristics of the variety‘BENEDICTO’ compared to the reference varieties ‘Fino 95’ and ‘Fino 49’under homogeneous growing conditions on 25 Nov. 2021.

Nov. 25, 2021 ‘Benedicto’ ‘Fino 95’ ‘Fino 49’ Weight (g) 184.26 ± 31.46 195.93 ± 28.71  154.34 ± 20.61  Diameter (mm) 67.68 ± 3.92  69.09 ±4.42  64.50 ± 2.58  Esp corteza 5.75 ± 1.00 6.09 ± 0.86 5.00 ± 0.85 (mm)Crust thickness 99.46 ± 18.71 111.62 ± 19.44  82.50 ± 19.10 (g)Juiciness (mL/ 41.58 ± 5.29  37.74 ± 5.84  39.64 ± 8.76  100 g) SS(°Brix) 8.45 ± 0.21 8.55 ± 0.19 8.48 ± 0.41 AT (g ac cit/ 62.10 ± 4.32 56.57 ± 2.00  57.35 ± 2.94  100 mL) Maturity Index 1.37 ± 0.12 1.51 ±0.08 1.48 ± 0.10

What is claimed is:
 1. A new and distinct variety of lemon plant named ‘BENEDICTO’ substantially as illustrated and described herein. 